Digital Data Evolution: Anticipated Top 5 Storage Trends for 2016
In the rapidly evolving digital landscape of 2016, enterprise storage trends were shaped by a multitude of factors, including regulatory compliance, digital preservation, and emerging technologies.
One of the most significant developments was the increasing adoption of body-worn cameras by law enforcement agencies. This trend presented a challenge in terms of large volumes of video data that required reliable, secure, and scalable storage solutions. Organizations began to explore hybrid and cloud storage as a cost-effective means of managing growing archives.
Another trend was the outsourcing of storage to third-party providers. Enterprises found benefits in scalability, cost savings, and access to specialized expertise, especially for non-critical or archival data. Cloud storage providers emerged as trusted partners in this space.
Archival storage for compliance, legal, and historical purposes was another major trend. The focus was on long-term retention, immutable data storage, and easy retrieval. Technologies emphasized tiered storage architectures to balance performance and cost, often leveraging offline or nearline storage media.
The rise of flash storage was another notable trend. Flash storage, with its combination of speed and efficiency, gained market share, particularly for high-performance and transactional workloads. Predictions foresaw the flash market growing from $15 billion in 2016, with technological advances like QLC (quad-level cell) NAND flash emerging as a middle tier between traditional HDDs and TLC SSDs. AI-driven storage optimization also began to appear, improving resource allocation and performance.
Enterprises also prioritized digital preservation strategies to secure data integrity over long periods. This necessitated storage offerings with features like data immutability, robust backup, and disaster recovery capabilities. Immutable snapshot technologies and cyber-resilient infrastructure were discussed as key enablers.
Digital preservation in memory institutions was also expected to grow, requiring economical, long-term, and ultra-reliable storage solutions. Digital archivists, known for their discernment, were key in identifying suitable long-term storage solutions for digital preservation.
Lastly, there was a growing focus on data as a valuable asset for both consumers and businesses. According to Nik Stanbridge, the obsession with data included understanding its best use, management, analysis, and storage. However, there was also a potential issue with confusion between data archiving and data backup, with many organizations maintaining inadequate backup and archive strategies due to the perceived simplicity and expense of traditional backup methods.
In conclusion, 2016 saw enterprises balancing evolving data growth, regulatory pressures, and new applications like body cams and AI, fueling shifts toward cloud-enabled, flash-accelerated, and strategic archival storage solutions alongside emerging digital preservation best practices. Many of these trends laid the groundwork for ongoing innovations in enterprise data management and preservation.
- With the increasing adoption of body-worn cameras, enterprises started to investigate hybrid and cloud storage as a cost-effective solution for managing the large volumes of video data, aligning with the trend of data-and-cloud computing.
- Organizations, particularly memory institutions, began to prioritize economical, long-term, and ultra-reliable storage solutions for digital preservation, reflecting the growing focus on data-and-cloud computing and the recognition of data as a valuable asset.
